Disposable visor cap construction



16, 5 E. J. DE VILLERS ETAL 3,

DISPOSABLE VISOR CAP CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 28, 1960 EDMUND J Ji 52??? E 315 E, BFHARLES H. WORCH MAHONEY, MILLER 8. RA M80 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,266,056 DISPOSABLE VlSOR CAP CONSTRUCTION Edmund J. De Villers and Charles H. Worch, Columbus, Ohio, assignors to Paperlynen Company, Columbus, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 28, 1960, Ser. No. 59,099 3 Claims. (Cl. 2-12) This invention relates generally to visor-type caps and more particularly to an improved, inexpensive, readily disposable visor cap construction.

Various visor-type caps have previously been devised for protecting the eyes of persons wearing the same :from sunlight or glare of artificial light. One widely known additional purpose of so-called disposable or throw-away types of visor caps is to provide an advertising medium suitable for wear by spectators at outdoor sporting events. Previously devised visor caps of this general construction have several disadvantages or objections which are overcome by the present visor cap. One major disadvantage of previously known types of disposable visor caps is their relatively high cost of manufacture resulting primarily from the wastage of the stock material from which such caps are out and formed. The costs of such caps are further increased due to the use of extraneous fastening :devices, such as elastic bands, adhesive materials or additional headband web sections and their associated fasteners. Increased costs also result from the requirement of loose, bulky packaging methods with a consequent increase of storage, handling and transportation facilities. Another characteristics disadvantage of previous visor caps is that they are not capable of readily obtaining a comfortable, accurate fit with the contours of the wearers head, or of maintaining a desiredposition on the forehead of the wearer.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide as an article of manufacture a simple visor-type cap which may be easily cut or blanked in closely fitting multiples from a single sheet of inexpensive material, such as paperboard, land which is adjustable to fit various head sizes, and of such form that a minimum of stock material is discarded in its manufiacture.

A further object of this invention is to provide an integrally formed, fiat visor cap blank made from inexpensive sheet material and having a crescent-shaped billform-ing section with headband-forming webs extending outwardly from opposite ends of the bill-forming section in an angularly divergent manner and having adjustable interlocking tabs and slots formed in the outer ends of the headband-forming webs.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an integrally formed visor cap blank which is fiat, and which is thus capable of being compactly packaged in large quantities, thus reducing the =cubage required for shipment or storage.

Another object of this invention is to provide an integrally formed visor cap which is capable of readily receiving advertisement or other printed material and thereby greatly increasing its usefulness as an advertising medium.

These and other objects and advantages of our invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present visor cap with the headband webs in a locked position ready for wearing.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a segment of paperboard sheet material illustrating a preferred method of making visor caps in accordance with this invention.

The accompanying drawing discloses a preferred form I by the numeral 10. Advantageously, the present visor cap is formed from an integral, one-piece blank which may be cut or stamped in multiples from a continuous web or single sheet 11 of paperboard, or other inexpensive flexible sheet xmaterial, with a minimum wastage of such material.v The cap blank comprises a bill-forming section 12 of generally crescent shape having opposite ly disposed, arcnately curved outer and inner edges 13 and 13a. The outer and inner edges 13 and 13a of the bill-forming section 12 have the same radius of curvature. The blank turther includes a pair of headbandforming webs 14 which are integrally formed with the bill-forming section 12 and extend outwardly in an angularly divergent manner from the opposite ends of the billforming section 12. Each of the headband-forming webs 14 are of uniform width and have their longitudinal edges disposed in parallel relation to one another and in tangential relation to the arcuately curved outer and inner edges 13 and 13a of the crescentshaped bill-forming section 12. As such, the headband-forming webs 14 form smooth, uninterrupted continuations of the bill section 12.

A preferred embodiment of the present cap blank utilizes an angular relationship of 60 degrees between the divergent headband-forming webs 14. Other angular relations'hips may be used and the illustration of 60 degrees is not to be considered a limitation. Greater or less angular displacement may be used to obtain varying shapes or contours of the bill section 12 and a correspondingly varying angular disposition thereof to the wearers face. The outer ends of the headband-forming webs 14 are formed to provide, respectively, 93, tab 15 and a plurality of size-adjusting slots or slits 16. The

tab 15 is arranged for interlocking insertion within a selected one of the slits 16 to assemble the capTforming blank into a finished visor cap. Advantageously, the slits,

16 may be arranged and suitably marked to correspond. to various head sizes, and a wearer may insert the tab' 15 into the particular slit 16 which corresponds to his or her head size.

A plurality of serrations 17 form a plurality of tabs 18, preferably with rounded corners, extending over'the central portion of inner edge 13a of bill-forming section 12. These serrations 17 extend inwardly from inner edge. 13a and terminate along a common arcuate, scored fold line 19.

The present visor cap is completed when the wearer inserts interlocking tab 15 into an appropriate size-adjusting slot 16 resulting in a headband web of generally cylindrical nature with a forewardly disposed, integrally formed bill section as illustrated by FIG. 1. A wearer,

in placing this visor cap on his head with the headband webs interlocked, pulls it down to a desired position on his forehead. In thus positioning the visor cap, tabs 18 will be forced outwardly in conformation with the head contour. Because of the resiliently flexible nature'of tabs 18, a person wearing the present visor cap will obtain a more accurate and comfortable fit. This also results in holding the cap snugly, yet comfortably, in the desired position on the head.

A visor-cap blank constructed in accordance with our invention greatly reduces stock wastage incurred during manufacture and also decreases the number of cutting or stamping operations required. These consequential savings obtained by the use of our improved visor-cap blank result from. the utilization of equal radii for outer and inner edges 13 and 13a of bill-forming section 12 and having headband-forming webs 14 integrally formed therewith by relatively parallel tangential extensions of arcuately curved edges 13 and 13a. This improved form thus permits the simultaneous formation of outer and inner edges 13 and 13a of adjacent visor-cap blanks with a consequent reduction in manufacturing cost. Waste or discarded material is thereby reduced to that portion of sheet stock 11 lying external to a series of adjacently formed blanks 10. Further advantage is obtained in that the visor blank may be produced by either single or multiple cutting or stamping operations from either flat or roll sheet stock of a suitable flexible material, such as common paperboard or synthetic resin. This preferred form permits shipment of the cap-forming blanks flat and compactly in boxes, greatly facilitating the. handling thereof. The flat integral form of the blank permits a printing operation to be combined with the stamping operation or facilitates a later printing operation of advertisements or descriptive material on the visor.

Although a single preferred embodiment of our invention is herein shown and described, it is to be understood that it is susceptible to various changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim 1. A disposable visor cap blank comprising a one-piece, substantially flat body of flexible sheet material formed with a forwardly disposed bill-forming section of generally crescent shape and a pair of rearwardly projecting, angularly divergent headband-forming webs extending respectively from opposite ends of said bill-forming section, the bill-forming section of said body having oppositely disposed, arcuately curved outer and inner edges each having an identical radius of curvature along the entire periphery of said curved outer and inner edges of said bill-forming section, and each of said headbandforming webs having opposite, relatively parallel, longitudinal edges disposed, respectively, in tangential relation to the outer and inner edges of said bill-forming section and forming smooth, uninterrupted continuations thereof, whereby a plurality of such bodies may be cut from a single sheetof material with the curved inner edge of one of said bodies disposed in contiguous, nesting relationship to the curved outer edge of an adjacent body, and said headband-forming webs being provided toward the outer ends thereof with relatively engageable tab and slot means by which said headband-forming webs may be detachably interlocked with one another when said body is positioned about the head of a wearer.

2. A visor cap blank comprising a one-piece, substantially flat body of flexible sheet material formed with a forwardly disposed bill-forming section of generally crescent shape and a pair of rearwardly projecting, angularly divergent headband-forming webs extending respectively from opposite ends of said bill-forming section, the billforming section of said body having oppositely disposed, arcuately curved outer and inner edges each having an identical radius of curvature along the entire periphery of said curved outer and inner edges of said bill-forming section, and each of said headband-forming webs having opposite, relatively parallel longitudinal edges disposed respectively in tangential relation to the outer and inner edges of said bill-forming section and forming smooth, uninterrupted continuations thereof, said inner arcuately curved edge of said bill-forming section having a plurality of serrations forming a plurality of resiliently 4 flexible tabs over a central portion thereof, whereby a plurality of such bodies may be cut from a single sheet of material with the curved inner edge of one of said bodies disposed in contiguous, nesting relationship to the curved outer edge of an adjacent body, and said headbandforming webs being provided toward the outer ends thereof with relatively engageable tab and slot means by which said headband-forming webs may be detachably interlocked with one another when said body is positioned about the head of the wearer.

3. A visor cap blank comprising a one-piece substantially flat body of flexible sheet material formed with a forwardly disposed bill-forming section of generally crescent shape and a pair of rearwardly projecting, angularly divergent headband-forming Webs extending respectively from opposite ends of said bill-forming section, the billforming section of said body having oppositely disposed, arcuately curved outer and inner edges each having an identical radius of curvature along the entire periphery of said curved outer and inner edges of said bill-forming section, and each of said headband-forming webs having opposite, relatively parallel, longitudinal edges disposed respectively in tangential relation to the outer and inner edges of said bill-forming section and forming smooth uninterrupted continuations thereof, whereby a plurality of such bodies may be cut from a single sheet of material with the curved inner edge of one of said bodies disposed in contiguous, nesting relationship to the curved outer edge of an adjacent body, said bill-forming section being formed with an arcuately curved fold line disposed in inwardly spaced relation to the inner arcuately curved edge thereof, and the inner arcuately curved edge of said bill-forming section having a plurality of serrations extending inwardly to said fold line, thereby forming a plurality of tabs along the central portion of'said inner edge, and said headband-forming webs being provided toward the outer ends thereof with relatively engageable tab and slot means by which said headband-forming webs may be detachably interlocked with one another when said body is positioned about the head of the wearer.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,056,276 10/1936 Katz 2197 X 2,373,855 4/1945 Shaw 223-83 2,410,158 10/1946 Gardner 2-197 X 2,629,869 3/1953 Locken 2-197 X 2,682,668 7/ 1954 Hoeflich 2-200 X 2,827,636 3/1958 Hoeflich 2195 2,883,094 4/1959 Calder 223-83 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,067,580 1/1954 France.

258,359 9/1926 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES Copyright to M. J. Ferguson, Registration Number K5844, December 15, 1958.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, THOMAS A. HICKEY,

Examiners.

G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DISPOSABLE VISOR CAP BLANK COMPRISING A ONE-PIECE, SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT BODY OF FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL FORMED WITH A FORWARDLY DISPOSED BILL-FORMING SECTION OF GENERALLY CRESCENT SHAPE AND A PAIR OF REARWARDLY PROJECTING, ANGULARLY DIVERGENT HEADBAND-FORMING WEBS EXTENDING RESPECTIVELY FROM OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID BILL-FORMING SECTION, THE BILL-FORMING SECTION OF SAID BODY HAVING OPPOSITELY DISPOSED, ARCUATELY CURVED OUTER AND INNER EDGES EACH HAVING AN IDENTICAL RADIUS OF CURVATURE ALONG THE ENTIRE PERIPHERY OF SAID CURVED OUTER AND INNER EDGES OF SAID BILL-FORMING SECTION, AND EACH OF SAID HEADBANDFORMING WEBS HAVING OPPOSITE, RELATIVELY PARALLEL, LONGITUDINAL EDGES DISPOSED, RESPECTIVELY, IN TANGENTIAL RELATION TO THE OUTER AND INNER EDGES OF SAID BILL-FORMING SECTION AND FORMING SMOOTH, UNINTERRUPTED CONTINUATIONS THEREOF, WHEREBY A PLURALITY OF SUCH BODIES MAY BE CUT FROM A SINGLE SHEET OF MATERIAL WITH THE CURVED INNER EDGE OF ONE OF SAID BODIES DISPOSED IN CONTIGUOUS, NESTING RELATIONSHIP TO THE CURVED OUTER EDGE OF AN ADJACENT BODY, AND SAID HEADBAND-FORMING WEBS BEING PROVIDED TOWARD THE OUTER ENDS THEREOF WITH RELATIVELY ENGAGEABLE TAB AND SLOT MEANS BY WHICH SAID HEADBAND-FORMING WEBS MAY BE DETACHABLY INTERLOCKED WITH ONE ANOTHER WHEN SAID BODY IS POSITIONED ABOUT THE HEAD OF A WEARER. 